Hari Om,
Here is the update for the last class.
We chanted the Devi dhyana shloka and Mahishasuramardini Stotram.
Mahabharata: Salya, the king of Madra and maternal uncle of Nakula and Sahadeva is now the new commander in chief. He faces a one on one with Yudhishtra and after a fierce battle, Yudhistra kills Salya. At the other side, Sahadeva and Shakuni fight and Shakuni is killed by Sahadeva.
Sanjaya comes to the war front to check on the details and wants to report to Dhritarashtra. He observes the armies are reduced much in numbers. He meets Duryodhana who is leaving the field of war, burning with rage. Duryodhana gets into a lake and is hiding and creates an illusory feel of a frozen surface of the lake. Ashvatthama, Kripa and Kritavarma come to meet him there and he sends them away, wanting to rest and recoup. Bhima's food suppliers notice this act of Duryodhana and report to Pandavas about Duryodhana's hideout. Pandavas go to the lake shore and ask Duryodhana to come out of the lake. Duryodhana tells Yudhishtra to take all the kingdom as his gift and Yudhishtra taunts Duryodhana. He tells Duryodhana to fight any one of the Pandavas and promises him that if they lose to Duryodhana, the war declares Duryodhana's victory. Krishna says that this is a bad idea, as anyone other than Bhima would lose to Duryodhana. Duryodhana picks Bhima as he thinks only Bhima is equal to him in valor and strength. They both fight like terror never seen before. Duryodhana breaks Bhima's armor and throws him down to the ground. Krishna keeps reminding about Bhima's vow and subsequently Arjuna pats his thighs. Bhima, having fallen into the ground, almost loses consciousness but gathers strength and picks his mace and jumps on a flying Duryodhana and knocks a blow on his thigh that makes Duryodhana fall with a great pain and broken thigh. Balarama, who chose to stay away from this war gets to the spot and is mad for Bhima's act of hitting Duryodhana on his thigh, which does not come into the grammar of war with maces. At the same time, he is very sad about Duryodhana's misbehavior and act of underhandedness. Duryodhana lies dying on the banks of the river. Ashvattama swears to avenge the fall of Duryodhana. He gets inspired by the attack of the owls on a crow's nest at night and decides to kill the Pandavas as they sleep. Kripa and Kritavarma try to talk him out of this evil deed unbecoming of any known limits of human conduct but he does not listen.
India, Sacred Land: We started to talk about the grains, spices and lentils used in Indian cooking. It was a hilarious session with the children piping up with their favorite foods. They are all quite aware of the different types of rices (idli rice, basmati rice and plain raw rice). We had voted for National vegetable last week ( Okra won by a good margin!), and this week we settled the idli vs dosa debate - Dosa won! We have asked them to explore the pantry at home (with your permission and supervision) and check out the grains, pulses and spices section in the Indian grocery stores to get more familiar with the immense variety.
Our next class is on April 7th.
Regards
Keerthi Kobla
Abhirami Shrinivas
